A Maine compost operation heavily contaminated by PFAS is closing

Casella Waste Systems is closing its Hawk Ridge Compost Facility in Unity Township after Maine regulators discovered high levels of forever chemicals on the site and indications that the contamination may have spread to the land around it.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection asked the company in February 2024 to test more and remediate contamination. Casella declined, citing uncertain future regulations and high costs of remediation as reasons to close in letters between it and the DEP obtained by the Bangor Daily News.

For almost four decades, Hawk Ridge, the state’s largest composting facility, has accepted millions of gallons of sewage sludge and turned it into compost used in Maine and beyond. The test results and Casella’s response show the pervasive nature of the chemicals and the difficulty in crafting Maine’s pioneering effort to regulate them.

Maine banned the spreading of sludge and sludge-based compost under a 2022 law. But companies have been allowed to import sludge from elsewhere to make the compost here even though it contains high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances known as PFAS, which are linked to several health conditions including cancers.

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